Magical Girl Storm: Journey through the Multiverse
by MadCow77
Summary: The barrier between worlds has been breached and is falling apart, threatening the very existence of the multiverse. In another world not dissimilar from our own, a girl must journey to discover who she is and regain her powers in order to prevent the annihilation of everything she holds dear. [OC, AU Magical Girl Multiverse]
1. Magical Girl War

**Chapter 1: Magical Girl War**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Madoka, Sailor Moon, Nanoha, Pretty Cure, Symphogear, or any other media that I may include in the future. This work of fiction is purely for entertainment purposes only and not for profit. Any resemblance to real persons, living, dead or artificial is purely coincidental.

* * *

In the beginning, there was darkness.

Then planets.

And then fire, explosions, destruction. Total annihilation.

War.

Unrecognizable figures dashed to and fro in a seemingly chaotic pattern, like atoms in a cloud, casting colourful trails of light as they moved.

But it wasn't chaos at all. There was a pattern. An epicenter. Shining brighter than all the others, it was certainly the target of all the other figures.

Then blinding light.

All the other figures were gone, their bright lights fading out. Only the epicenter remained.

Inside the epicenter, it looked like there was a familiar figure. A girl? Sad. Angry. Disappointed. Fearful. So many emotions at the same time. So much confusion. So distant.

Then the girl looked up. Her face was almost recognizable… then Tsuchimoto Mariko awoke from her slumber, her alarm clock ringing for the past five minutes.

"Ah! I'm late!" She quickly jumped out of bed and dashed into the bathroom.

* * *

"Give me all your lunch money and we'll let you go quietly!"

Bullies. The bane of every student.

In a small alleyway two school boys stood menacingly at another younger girl, probably a first-grader by the looks of her uniform. She is most certainly frightened, nearly driven to tears as she tried to look for a way out of her predicament.

"Leave her alone!"

Kinomoto Yuuko, fourteen years of age, junior high schooler. Slightly taller for her age, she is slim but athletic and sports black hime-cut hair. She stood at the entrance of the alleyway, eyeing the two bullies as they turned their attention to her.

"Get lost and we'll forget you were even here," the first bully warned.

The little girl turned to gaze at her savior with a hopeful look on her face. Tears were still trickling down her face, and she looked visibly shaken.

"In the name of justice, I will not abandon an innocent girl to the likes of you!"

The two bullies burst into laughter at such a corny line. It was certainly not the response that Yuuko was going for. Still, she clenched her fists and adamantly stood there, her face full of defiance and determination.

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" asked the second bully.

Yuuko raised her fists into a boxing stance to confirm her agreement. The two bullies smiled at each other, and then advanced.

* * *

"Oh gosh I'm late I'm late I'm late…" Mariko repeated as she ran as fast as she can.

Tsuchimoto Mariko. A junior high schooler the same age as Yuuko. Slightly shorter than Yuuko, but has somehow more energy than everyone else in her class combined. She has blue and short, straight-cut hair with a purple flower hairpin on the right side of her head.

She was running towards the final junction right before her school, when she spotted someone familiar and stopped. Slumped by the side of the road was her best friend and classmate Yuuko and another little girl that she didn't recognize.

"Yuuko, what happened?"

"Aww… they took both our lunch money," she replied dejectedly.

"Who did?"

"Bullies." She pouted. Yuuko's hair and clothes were a mess. Then she turned to look at the little girl and let out a genuine smile. "But at least I protected someone!"

"Thank you so much, Yuuko-sama! But I'm late for school so I have to run. See you next time!" The little girl bowed courteously and then ran off.

"Oh crap!" Both Yuuko and Mariko exclaimed together.

"Last to school is a rotten egg!" yelled Mariko as she sped ahead of Yuuko.

* * *

During their lunch break, Yuuko and Mariko spent their time at the school building's rooftop, a common hangout for delinquents such as themselves.

"Have you done your research for science class today?" Mariko asked Yuuko.

"Nah," Yuuko replied while enjoying the calm breeze blowing against her face. "I'll just wing it."

"I wish I could be more like you," Mariko said while gazing upon Yuuko in admiration. "You seem to be able to manage even without studying!"

The clouds turned dark and the girls could hear the rumble of thunder at a distance.

"Well that was sudden," Yuuko commented. "The weather forecast didn't say anything about a storm at all today."

"I don't know why, but it gives me the creeps." Mariko shivered as a cool breeze swept past her. "Let's go back inside."

"Alright, race you to the door!"

Yuuko immediately took off, but Mariko still managed to catch up and win in the end. As they went down the stairs and headed back to their class, Yuuko suddenly felt a presence behind her. She quickly turned around, but did not see anything at all.

"What's wrong, Yuuko-chan?"

"I thought I felt someone staring… ah, it was nothing. Let's go."

* * *

After school, Yuuko and Mariko decided to go shopping like typical anime school girls. The shopping district was packed as usual today, even though dark clouds continued to persist throughout the afternoon. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed from a distance, but everyone was still going about their usual business.

_KRAKAKOOM_!

The crack of thunder was loud following a bright flash of lightning, indicating proximity. Only now did people start to disperse. Some brought and unfolded umbrellas, while others started rushing to leave in hopes of beating the weather.

_KRAKABOOM_!

Another one. This time the ground shook, surprising everyone including Yuuko and Mariko.

"What was that, an earthquake?" Mariko exclaimed in surprise.

"That's not possible," Yuuko replied. "Lightning isn't strong enough to cause a tremor like this."

_KRAKABOOM_!

And another. This time it was so bright and deafening that it made Mariko jump. She instinctively reached out and held on to Yuuko tightly.

"Mariko, you're such a coward." Yuuko was putting up a brave front to comfort her friend, but even she herself was shaken after realizing the circumstances of this storm was very unusual. The ground shook even more, as if an earthquake was coming their way.

_KRAK-BOOM_!

This time a powerful bolt of lightning struck a lamp post just across the street from the pair. They could feel the heat and the highly ionized air rush past their face and exposed skin, but what they saw after that was even more frightening.

A jet black fissure, like a crack in time and space, remained where the lightning bolt struck. As Yuuko and Mariko watched in shock and awe, strange things appeared. Colourful shapes of all sorts, glowing in bright colours pulled themselves out of the hole and went after nearby people.

The first victim was a middle-aged man in white shirt and black overalls. A typical salaryman, probably. The things surrounded and engulfed him while he screamed in horror, and then he turned into dust. Other people who witnessed the event began to panic, stampeding through the crowded streets as the things searched for more victims.

Yuuko quickly grabbed Mariko's hand and ran. They ran on and on without looking back. They could still hear the screams of people as they hurriedly made their way through narrow streets and alleyways. Then Yuuko bumped into two familiar faces and stopped, Mariko nearly crashing into her from behind.

Standing before the girls were the two bullies that Yuuko encountered this morning. "More life energy to collect for our queen," the first said with a grin on his face. "Indeed," the second one replied. As they shuffled towards the girls, they started to change. Like melting clay, they shed their external appearances and became two disheveled-looking mummies, their pale white eyes locked onto the two girls.

"Yuuko, run!" It was Mariko's turn to take initiative and run back the way they came, holding on to Yuuko's hand as tightly as she could. Mariko was very fast and also panicking, and her grip on Yuuko was slipping.

"Mariko, slow down!"

As Mariko made a quick jump to avoid an overturned stall, she lost her grip on Yuuko. All Yuuko could remember before her world turned dark was Mariko calling out her name...

* * *

Yuuko opened her eyes. It was black all around her, but it wasn't actual darkness because she could still see herself. She realized that she was standing on a floating piece of rubble. She could feel a presence nearby, so she turned around.

"Mariko, is that... you..."

Her voice trailed as she studied the person standing before her. A girl with long, black hair, wearing a school uniform that she did not recognize. It was a pale beige, almost white, with purple collar and skirt. She had a pretty red ribbon tied to her hair. Yuuko also noticed a small purple gem of some sort attached to the girl's left hand, glowing softly in pale light.

"You..." the girl began. "You're the source. Therefore you must die."

"What? Source? Die? Wait... hold on..."

The girl stretched out her left hand. Her gem glowed brightly for a moment, and then a black bow materialized in her hand. Without saying a word or letting her gaze drift away, she pointed the bow at Yuuko.

"Wait just a minute... stop... what is going on?" Yuuko babbled as she tried to understand what was going on. "Can you please at least tell me your name?"

"Akemi Homura."

Homura pulled back the bowstring and a purple arrow made out of raw magical energy materialized. She took aim at Yuuko's heart and shifted her stance.

"Please... Akemi-san, no... stop... why?" Yuuko unconsciously stepped backwards, and Homura took a step forward in response.

"If I don't kill you now, it will be the end of the universe." She released her shot as a single tear was shed from her seemingly cold eyes. The arrow flew straight and true...

* * *

"Yuuko! Where are you, Yuuko?"

Mariko was alone, panicking as she searched all over the place for her friend. Around her, utter chaos reigned. Shadowy things were devouring people left and things of various shapes and sizes turned people into dust. Elsewhere, strange creatures that took the form of humans were attacking other humans, causing them to collapse. Further away, even stranger things, giant-sized monstrous versions of ordinary items caused massive collateral damage to the city.

Mariko turned and ran. She ran past dead people. She ran past people being attacked by monsters. She ran past monsters that turned to give chase. As she ran, all she could think of was finding Yuuko.

* * *

Yuuko felt herself falling.

The arrow should have killed her, but instead she fell, the arrow barely clipping her hair as it flew past her. Then she continued falling and falling.

Yuuko could not tell how far nor how fast she fell. Everything around her was pitch black. She couldn't see anything but herself.

Then she gently landed, feet first, on something solid. She blinked, surprised, before examining her surroundings. She was in some kind of throne room, like that of a ruined castle. But it wasn't a medieval kind of castle. The floor was tiled metal, and so were the walls. There was no ceiling, just a swirling vortex of magical energy like a hurricane hovering high above her.

"Intruder!"

Yuuko quickly turned and saw what looked like a large suit of armour hovering before her. It had a lance, like that of a medieval jousting knight, but held like a heavy rifle pointed at her.

"Authorization: Does not exist. Resolution: Elimination."

The tip of the automaton's lance began to glow. Yuuko did not wait to see what would happen next. She just turned and ran as fast as her legs could propel.

There was an explosion behind her. The blast was strong enough to throw her off her feet. She hurtled forward, head-first, and then everything turned black again.

Yuuko found herself sitting on a patch of grass. She briefly checked herself for any injuries, but there were none. She then examined her surroundings. She was on a small floating island. Again, it was surrounded by nothing – just empty blackness.

In the middle of the island was the blackened and charred remains of a very large tree. It was so big, Yuuko couldn't recall if such a species existed on Earth or not. Seeing that the tree is the only item of interest on this grassy island, she went to investigate.

As she drew closer to the tree, something caught her eye. Hidden amongst the roots of the tree was something small and inorganic. Upon closer examination, she found what appeared to be an old-fashioned mobile phone. It was a flip phone design, pink with rounded corners and a short but fat antenna. There were unrecognizable symbols lining the edges of the phone. Hanging onto the phone was a small ornament, like a teardrop-shaped ruby, but it seemed incomplete as if there was another half that it connected to.

Yuuko reached forward to touch the phone. Suddenly, she saw a vision, like a flash of light in the back of her mind. In place of this dead remnant was an enormous, healthy, beautiful and otherworldly tree. Its leaves were bright green, but where the sun shone it glowed with the colours of a rainbow.

The vision lasted but a split second, leaving a painful headache in its place. Yuuko grimaced in pain, holding her head with her right hand. Her vision spun, and she stumbled from the resulting vertigo. Once the pain subsided, she found herself back in a familiar part of town again.

Then she looked down at her right hand, and noticed that she was holding on to the phone tightly.

"Yuuko-chan!"

Yuuko looked up and saw her friend Mariko across the street. She was back in her hometown alright, but it was in complete ruin. Many shops were turned into rubble, stalls were overturned and bodies of people lay motionless on the ground. The sky was a swirling purple vortex of lighting, flying shadows and other strange things. It was like the end of the world had come.

"Mariko-chan!"

_BOOM_!

A nearby explosion shook the pair. They turned to observe the source of the sound. Several capsule-shaped machines hovered in midair, with a single red eyestalk trained at a man. He was running away from the machines and towards the two girls. "Somebody help me!" he screamed.

_FREEEEM_! _KABOOM_!

One machine fired a bolt of energy that nearly struck the man. It missed and blew up a section of asphalt, but caused the man to stumble and fall. He landed close to Mariko's feet and Mariko realized that she was also in danger.

Without thinking, she started to run even as the man continued begging for his life. She couldn't do anything. She was afraid. She was panicking. All she could think about was running... and Yuuko.

The thought of Yuuko caused Mariko to stop. She turned around, half-expecting to see Yuuko also running behind her. Instead, she saw Yuuko bravely standing in front of the man, confronting the death machines like some sort of action hero from a shounen manga. Then Mariko noticed the small device in Yuuko's hand.

* * *

Yuuko didn't know exactly what she was doing, but somehow in the back of the mind, she knew what she had to do. She flipped open the phone and her thumb instinctively moved to press just the right button that needed to be pressed.

The phone spoke in an artificial female voice. "Standby mode."

Somehow, she knew the right combination of numbers to press. Her right thumb moved like it had a mind of its own, quickly pushing three digits in the correct order, and finalizing the sequence with the OK button.

"Combination ready. Rain mode set up."

Suddenly Yuuko was surrounded by several spinning circles of pink energy, like hula hoops. Each hoop shrunk in size and bound themselves to different parts of her body. Two formed a pair of tall, cyan boots. Another two formed similar-colours gloves. Several of them combined and manifested as a white blouse with cyan trims and a light blue skirt. The rest formed ribbons, shoulder pads, a tiara and a short cape on Yuuko. The phone had melded onto her right hand, turning into a bracer with a keypad and display, along with a teardrop-shaped ruby adorning it. The many symbols that lined the phone now appear as hieroglyphs around the gem.

The machines opened fire. Bluish rectangular walls of energy materialized in front of Yuuko, blocking their attack. She then made a pushing gesture with her right hand, and the energy shields accelerated forwards and slammed into the machines. Some were knocked backwards, while others were crushed and exploded from the high velocity impact.

_Why do I know how to fight?_ Yuuko thought to herself as she instinctively accessed a preset number list on her keypad and selected a specific one.

"Address ready. Ribbon form set up."

The familiar display of energy hoops began, but this time they glowed in golden-yellow light, transforming Yuuko and giving her a completely different look. Now she is in a brown and white bustier, orange skirt, brown leggings and orange shoes.

With a mighty leap, she jumped into the air to gain a temporary height advantage over the enemy. With but a single wave of her hand, she conjured a legion of percussion locked rifles around her. Then with a second gesture, they open fire simultaneously, covering the area with a rain of magical bullets that shredded the machines caught in the area of attack.

"Ribbon form cancelled. Address lost." One of the symbols on the bracer faded away as Yuuko reverted to her cyan-and-blue form.

_Huh? What happened_? Yuuko was confused.

A large, quadruped machine stomped into view. It also had the same capsule-shaped torso as the other smaller machines, but sported two large cannons on each side of its body. The dual weapons both trained themselves on Yuuko.

Leaping aside to avoid the first round of blasts, Yuuko picked another preset from the same list using her keypad.

"Address ready. Scythe form set up."

Another transformation took place. This time, she gets a black shirt and short, white skirt. Dark blue and red cape, and brown leggings followed. A long metal rod formed in her hand. One end of the rod bursts into magical yellow flame, and then coalesced to form a large scythe-shaped blade.

The machine opened fire, but with surprising speed and agility she dodged to the side while still in midair, then landed on her feet as the twin beams of energy whizzed harmlessly past her.

Yuuko put her right foot back, like an Olympic runner getting ready to dash. Then in a sudden burst of speed, she dashed towards the tank leaving a sonic boom behind. Scythe at the ready, she sliced past the machine, cutting it in two.

"Scythe form cancelled. Address lost." Another symbol on the bracer faded away as Yuuko reverted again. _It happened again_, she thought. _Why am I losing my powers_?

This pattern repeated itself a few more times as she continued to fight all manner of strange things – armoured automatons, shadowy things, colourful blobs of shapes, giant animated household objects and more. Finally, the battle was won and not a single foe was left standing within sight so she cancelled her transformation and returned to being Kinomoto Yuuko.

"Yuuko-chan!"

Yuuko turned around to see Mariko running towards her.

"That was amazing! You're... you're a Magical Girl!"

"Eh?"

"Yeah, like on TV!" With her focus now on Yuuko, Mariko has apparently forgotten all about the danger and trauma she had just been through.

"Let's go home and see if everyone's okay. We should go to your place first, Mariko, since yours is the nearest."

"Umm... okay," Mariko replied sheepishly. "I just got overexcited for a bit, but you're right. We need to check on our families."

* * *

Yuuko stood outside Mariko's house, waiting for her friend to come out. Mariko had gone in a few minutes earlier to check on her family.

"No one's here," Mariko said dejectedly as she emerged from the front door. "I wonder where everybody went."

"They may have fled to safety. We can still go look for them." Yuuko could tell that her friend was distraught, so she tried to offer some words of encouragement.

"Alright. But... let's check on your family first, Yuuko-chan."

"Okay. Who knows, maybe we might fight your family there too, since they know each other."

"Yeah, maybe..."

* * *

"Mom! Dad!"

Yuuko called out for her parents as she stood by the front entrance, but there was no reply. _Where could they be? What in the world is happening?_ Yuuko was deeply concerned. All of a sudden, her world was turned upside down. Monsters appeared out of nowhere and someone was even trying to kill her. It's a lot for an ordinary school girl to take, and now she didn't even know if her parents are safe or not.

"Yuuko-chan," Mariko said her name as she gave her friend a hug from behind to comfort her. "You are always the strong one. Please continue to be strong, otherwise I wouldn't know what I would do..."

Yuuko put her hand reassuringly on Mariko's and took a deep breath. "Thank you, Mariko-chan. I will promise to be strong as long as you're here to support me."

The too stood together silently for a while, taking the time to calm down before deciding what to do next.

* * *

Fire. Smoke. Ashes.

All around Yuuko, she could only see devastation and ruin. The tall skyscrapers in the city are the most obvious signs that the world had gone to hell, their once beautiful reflective glass windows now replaced by shattered glass, broken rubble and smouldering ashes. The once clear, blue sky has been replaced by a hazy crimson as more smoke and dust polluted the atmosphere.

Yuuko had wandered a bit further from her home than she had expected. Realizing this, she decided to turn back, knowing that Mariko would be worried. However, her heart literally jumped when she saw a familiar person standing before her – Akemi Homura.

Homura took a step forward. Yuuko took a step back. And then another step.

"What do you want?" Yuuko found her voice again. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It seems that you have already found your StormBraver and awakened your powers. Killing you is no longer an option."

"What are you talking about?" Yuuko was confused by Homura's cryptic words.

"You really don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

Homura sighed. "You remember how to fight, but you haven't remembered who you are yet. I suppose the instinctive memories are the first to come, but you will eventually remember who you are once you have regained your full powers."

"About that. I seem to have lost almost all my powers fighting those monsters earlier."

Homura sighed again. "Then you must quickly go and get them back. If you do not do so, the universe will cease to exist."

"But why is this happening? You haven't explained to me what is going on now, actually."

Homura wanted to sigh again but stifled it this time. She didn't want to continue being Yuuko's information database as she had better things to do. So she grit her teeth and continued explaining. "The universe is fracturing. The barrier between worlds has been weakened and cracks, like those you saw earlier, are starting to appear as worlds begin interacting with each other. This is all because you were reborn."

She waited a moment to let Yuuko absorb all this before continuing. "Now that the cataclysm has begun, only you can stop it. But you cannot do so unless you remember who you are and regain all your powers."

"You keep talking about me remembering. Why can't you tell me who I am?"

"These are memories of a distant past. Your past life. You have to remember that on your own." Homura paused for a moment before deciding to drop one more bit of information. "At least, that's what I was told."

"So you don't really know either? Then how will I regain my powers?"

"Your StormBraver will guide you," Homura said while pointing to the phone that Yuuko acquired earlier. "It will serve as the gateway between worlds, and the nexus of your powers. Never lose it."

Yuuko stared at the phone. She never realized how much power she held in her hands. Then, as if nudged by said distant memory, she flipped it open and accessed one "Navigation" app. The app indicated two locations – one with a symbol of a circle with a dot in the middle, and another of a crescent moon. Unintelligible text accompanied the symbols. Only the second symbol was selectable; the first appeared to be disabled.

"Do you know what these mean?" Yuuko meant to show these to Homura, but the girl has already disappeared. "Akemi... san?"

"Where have you been?" Mariko asked as she emerged from around a corner. "Don't go wandering off like that!"

"I'm sorry, I got carried away." She stared at her phone again to see if she could comprehend what she saw.

"What are you looking at, Yuuko-chan?" Mariko peeped over Yuuko's shoulder and noticed the symbols. "Hey, what's that?"

"Mariko, wait, don't touch that!"

Mariko touched it.

Meanwhile, Akemi Homura stood atop the ruins of an office block. She observed Yuuko and Mariko disappear from this world and thought, _I hope you're right about this, Madoka_.

Unbeknownst to her, another girl was observing Homura, Yuuko and Mariko from a distance. Like Homura, she also had long, black hair but wore a beige uniform and a black plaid skirt. In fact, she looked just like an identical twin of Homura.

"Hmmph." After seeing what she had come to see, this Homura materialized a gem in her hand. It was purple and round, with a black frame in the shape of a crown. It glowed in a bright, purple light which completely engulfed her. By the time light had faded out, she has already left this world.

* * *

"Ouch!"

Yuuko and Mariko were sprawled on top of each other, having literally lost their footing as they materialized several inches above the ground. They immediately took note of their surroundings and stared with their mouths agape.

"Mariko, Were not in Kansas anymore," Yuuko finally said, quoting The Wizard of Oz.

They were in some housing district that neither of them recognized. It was still Japanese, that's one fact they could agree on, but definitely not from their part of town. The sky was clear and blue, the atmosphere peaceful and quiet.

"Yuuko, you changed your clothes!"

"Mariko, you too!"

The two of them were wearing white, long-sleeved sailor uniforms with blue collars and blue skirt. They both had red scarfs and white socks.

"What is this?" Mariko asked perplexingly.

"Maybe... this is the role that this world gave us," Yuuko guessed. Somehow she knew that was the answer.

"This world?"

An unfamiliar voice spoke next. "Ahem."

The two girls turned to see that a handsome young man, probably in his late teens, had been standing nearby, observing them all this while. "Two weirdos have appeared, apparently."

"Hey, who are you calling a weirdo?" Mariko said back.

"Yeah, says the guy wearing a tuxedo in broad daylight!" Yuuko countered.

This is going to be a very, very long day for them both...

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

Readers who are familiar with the material that inspired this work, Kamen Rider Decade, will notice that I have followed the first episode's formula almost to the letter. Partly to make it obvious that the story is Decade-inspired, and also because the formula works so why break away from it?

Additionally, this story relies on the use of original characters as the protagonists because that's the most obvious path to take considering the source material.

_On __**Kinomoto Yuuko**_ (OC): She plays the role of Kadoya Tsukasa (Decade) in this story, travelling between worlds to learn more about herself, befriend other magical girls and regain her power. Her power set is inspired by Nanoha-verse Midchildan magic and she uses a mobile phone (a common device in the magical girl genre) which I call the StormBraver to transform. I'm going to clarify right now that she has Modes and Forms. Modes are her basic abilities, based on her storm theme (so rain mode is her starting mode). Forms allow her to access the powers of other magical girls the same way Decade uses Form Ride cards.

_On __**Tsuchimoto Mariko**_ (OC): I intend for Mariko to play both the roles of Natsumi and Yuusuke here. She doesn't have any powers yet, so at the beginning she is just the supporting character like Natsumi, but once she has obtained powers she will be the sidekick magical girl similar to how Kuuga is to Decade.

_On __**Akemi Homura**_ (Puella Magi Madoka Magica): She appears to be playing the role of Wataru Kurenai in Decade while her post-Rebellion self appears to be playing Narutaki's, but this is only superficial in appearance. I have other plans (or at least I think I do).

_On the __**Magical Girl Worlds**_: Most of them will be Alternate Universe versions of the canon material, of course. But unlike Decade, I won't try to invent alternate personas for the characters. So, Tsukino Usagi will still be Tsukino Usagi, not Tsukino Unagi or whatever. I guess it worked in Decade because that was a TV show, so you had the additional visual element to help identify and relate to the characters ("oh, so in this world, this guy is Kuuga instead of Godai Yuusuke") but in written form it can be harder to relate. I have a feeling this decision will eventually come back and bite me in the rear end if/when we get to World of Madoka (because we'd have several Homuras running around), but I'll worry about that if/when I get there.


	2. The School, the Moon and the Princess I

**Chapter 2: The School, the Moon and the Princess (World of Sailor Moon Part 1)**

"Aren't you two late for school?"

The young man in tuxedo curiously eyed the two girls. "The student council does not take kindly to slackers like yourself, you know."

"Eh? School?" Tsuchimoto Mariko wondered out aloud.

"Yes. Juban Academy. Juu-ban A-ca-de-my," then man pronounced it out slowly to mock her. "That's the school's uniform you're wearing, no?"

"Err… yeah, we're late for school again. As usual. Come on, Mariko-chan!"

Kinomoto Yuuko grabbed Mariko's hand and started running. They both ran for a short distance, and then turned around and came back.

"Excuse me, Tuxedo-san, but… err… which way is it?"

The man sighed, and then pointed them in the correct direction. "And for the record," he continued, "it's Mamoru. Chi-ba Ma-mo-ru. Remember it!"

"Ah, thank you so much Tuxedo-san," Yuuko replied and then sped off with Mariko.

Mamoru sighed again, and then turned to continue on his way.

* * *

"Yuuko, why are we attending a school we don't even know about?" Mariko asked as they raced down the street.

"It's the role that this world gave us, Mariko-chan. For the moment, please trust me on this and try to play along. I will explain later."

Yuuko and Mariko both gasped for breath. They had arrived at the school gate, but the bell had already rung earlier to mark the beginning of the school period. As they passed through the gate, they were stopped by four male students in the school's upper classmen uniform. The four of them spoke in turn.

"What have we here, actual late students?"

"It looks like they do not know their place, Jadeite-san."

"Indeed! Being late to school is a dire insult to our great Student Council President Beryl-sama!"

"What punishment do you propose we enact upon them, Zoisite-san?"

Yuuko and Mariko both felt immense pressure to respond from there four, and looking around they noticed that the rest of the students were staring at the commotion from their respective classrooms.

"Um… uh…" Mariko stammered, trying to find an excuse.

"Speak up when you address the Student Council!" The one referred to as Jadeite admonished her.

"We're new transfer students! We sincerely apologize for our tardiness!" Yuuko answered loudly, and then bowed deeply to the four. Mariko was surprised at first, but then quickly bowed also after being nudged by Yuuko.

* * *

Soon it was lunch break. Yuuko and Mariko weren't fitting in well at all. After all, they were suddenly thrown into a new world and then had to suddenly attend a school they had no knowledge about. All in a day's work of a dimension-hopping Magical Girl. Not.

"You two are so lucky to get off so easily," a yellow-haired girl with very long pigtails said. She smiled at Yuuko and Mariko with a grin so wide, it doesn't take an idiot to know she has some ulterior motive up her sleeve. "I'm Tsukino Usagi," the girl said and extended out her hand to greet them both.

"I'm Kinomoto Yuuko. Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Tsuchimoto Mariko. Pleased to-"

As Mariko touched Usagi's hand, she saw a vision. A brief image of a beautiful palace flashed by her eyes. Tall minarets stood alongside beautifully tiled roads and pools of water. A large moon hovered above the structure, basking and outlining it with beautiful white light.

The vision only lasted for a brief moment. Mariko wasn't sure what she had just saw and reflexively withdrew her hand, to her own surprise. "I- I'm sorry, I j-just felt something st-strange," she stammered. "P-pleased to meet you too, Tsukino-san!"

"Mariko-chan, it's not like you to become flustered like that," Yuuko teased.

"No, it's not what you think!"

"In any case, what do you want, Tsukino-san? You've had that grin on your face all morning since you saw us."

"Hehe…" Usagi began. "The two of you are new transfer students, aren't you? That means you haven't joined any clubs yet."

"Sorry but we're not interested in joining any," Yuuko quickly answered, having guessed Usagi's motive.

"That won't do at all," Usagi countered. "You see, club activities are compulsory at this school."

"Compulsory?"

"Yeah, by decree of the student council."

"Speaking of the student council, they seem to be quite a serious, stuck-up bunch. What's up with that?" Yuuko asked.

"Shh!" Usagi quickly hushed Yuuko. "You mustn't talk about the student council so openly. You see…." Usagi leaned closer and spoke in a softer tone, "they're in charge of this school. If they don't like you, you're as good as a goner to them."

"Goner?"

"Well, more like disappear, never to be seen again." Usagi made a gesture with both hands like something was blowing up.

"Usagi, you're talking about that again, aren't you?" A girl with beautifully long, dark hair said, standing behind Usagi.

"Ah, Rei-chan!" Usagi greeted her. "Yeah, that thing."

"I apologize on behalf of Usagi-chan," the girl said to Yuuko. "She has a habit of saying things she's not supposed to say. Out loud. In public." Rei gave Usagi a painful pinch to the cheek as she emphasized that last part of her sentence.

"I'm Hino Rei, by the way."

Yuuko and Mariko greeted her, and then Yuuko faced the girl with a serious look on her face and asked, "So when is a good time and place?"

* * *

Somehow Yuuko and Mariko both survived their first day of an unfamiliar school without any further incident. After school, they have gathered with Usagi, Rei and two other girls at a local eatery outside the school to resume their conversation.

The two girls introduced themselves as Mizuno Ami and Kino Makoto. The four of them belong to the school's Drama Club, which is in danger of being shut down due to a lack of members. This is why Usagi had been trying to recruit them both. They also explained that the student council has total control over the school and ruled over it like tyrants. They control everything including the school's administration, club activities and even uniforms that the students wear.

They further explained that students have been disappearing from the school, and what's disturbing is that most of these students were the ones who tried to openly oppose the student council. They therefore warned Yuuko and Mariko to behave themselves and exercise extreme caution while on the school grounds, and to never approach the school at night – especially at midnight.

"What happens at midnight?" Yuuko asked.

"Sorry," Rei replied, "but perhaps we have said too much. Forget that, just stay away from the school grounds after dark." Rei left it at that and refused to answer any further questions.

Usagi continued to pester the two to join the Drama Club. She explained that the student council now decreed that all school clubs must do well at the upcoming school festival. All underperforming clubs will be shut down and their members punished, for only the strongest and the best may continue to exist in the school. Presidents of the top-performing clubs will be rewarded with recognition and more prestigious school uniforms.

Yuuko replied the best way she could – that she couldn't make a decision now, and needed time to consider it because she had a lot of other personal issues that she needed to resolve first.

Rei was satisfied with Yuuko's answer, and so she forcefully separated Usagi from Yuuko. They then decided to converse about other things while waiting for their snacks and refreshments to be served.

After some idle banter, the four of them left, leaving Yuuko and Mariko to discuss personal matters.

"So, you promised to explain things to me, Yuuko-chan."

"Yes, I did."

Yuuko explained as much as she could to Mariko, starting from her encounter with Akemi Homura, the discovery about the StormBraver device, and what Homura said to her about the multiverse. It was a lot for Mariko to swallow, so Yuuko gave her some time while she went through some school documents to investigate other immediate matters such as money and lodging.

"So, to sum it up, we're like in a Sliders show travelling between various worlds parallel to our own," Mariko summarized.

"Sort of, I guess…" Yuuko replied, "I'm not sure of the details, though. Like how the world assigns us roles. Or what we're supposed to do in this world."

"Roles, huh?"

"Yeah, like giving us these uniforms. And look," Yuuko pointed to some school documents. "Here, we're supposed to be staying at these addresses."

"So lodging is also provided, huh? Sounds like fun… I think."

"It's no vacation though," Yuuko warned. "Remember, we still need to somehow get back to our own world and save it."

"Yeah, I know." Mariko sighed. The thought of home depressed her, but based on what she understood from Yuuko's story, there wasn't anything that they could do except go along with the flow.

"Don't worry, Mariko-chan. We'll somehow work it out."

Mariko forced a smile. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Yuuko-chan. I'm alright now." It was a lie, but she didn't want her friend to worry so she put on a brave front.

* * *

It was getting late. Yuuko and Mariko were rushing to the nearby train station. Suddenly Mariko stopped short; Yuuko almost ran into her from behind.

"What's wrong, Mariko?"

She pointed at the train station. Scores of people lay, unconscious, all over the place. Some slumped over where they were seated, while many others were just sprawled on the floor. There was no sign of struggle or violence, as if everyone just fell unconscious suddenly.

"Hey, are you alright?" Yuuko tried waking one of the nearby ones without success. The victims all appeared to be in some sort of deep sleep or coma. As Yuuko was about to go further into the station, Mariko grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Mariko?"

"I… sense… something weird," she replied.

"Weird?"

"I don't know how to describe it, but I feel… danger."

It didn't take long for them to identify the danger that Mariko sensed. Stepping out from the shadows, was some kind of humanoid monster. It was tall and green, like some kind of cactus with arms and legs.

"A Youma!"

"A what?" Yuuko asked, puzzled.

"That's what it's called. I don't know why I know… I just do…."

"Alright, then stand back," Yuuko commanded as she pulled out the StormBraver from her pocket.

Before she could transform, however, the creature lashed out at her outstretched hand with a long, green vine. She grimaced in pain as she dropped the StormBraver. Now the creature started advancing towards the two.

Yuuko maintained her position between the monster and Mariko, still intending to fight and protect her friend. Keeping an eye on the advancing Youma, she tried to formulate a plan to retrieve the StormBraver to transform.

The monster raised its whip-like vines to strike again. Yuuko instinctively raised her hand up to protect herself. Before it could land a strike, however, they heard voice that sounded somewhat familiar to girls.

"Hold it right there!"

A girl in blue and white sailor uniform appeared, sporting long yellow hair tied into twin pigtails. She had a golden tiara on her forehead encrusted with a beautiful red jewel.

"The beautiful sailor-skirted guardian of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon!" She announced while striking a pose. "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Yuuko cringed. Mariko stared in awe.

Then three more girls appeared.

"The guardian of Water and Wisdom, Sailor Mercury!" The blue-haired one in blue skirt announced. "In the name of Mercury, I'll punish you!"

"The guardian of Flame and Passion, Sailor Mars!" The one in red said. "In the name of Mars, I'll punish you!"

"Guardian of Thunder and Courage, Sailor Jupiter!" stated the one in green. "In the name of Jupiter, I'll punish you!"

Yuuko resisted the temptation to facepalm. Mariko squealed like a fangirl.

The four sailor guardians proceeded to attack the Youma, athletically dodging and weaving around it like gymnastic athletes and then striking when they saw an opening. The Youma lashed out with several long vines, expertly wielding them as whips.

It looked like the sailor guardians had the upper hand, using their strength in numbers to overpower the monster. While three of them distracted it, Sailor Mars struck a pose and said, "Youma Taisen!"

She unleashed a ball of fire at the Youma, but to everyone's surprise, it suddenly divided itself into two identical clones while the fireball passed harmlessly between them.

The fight continued as Yuuko and Mariko looked on. Now it was a four-on-two battle, but the sailor guardians still maintained their advantage. Still, it wasn't clear how they would be able to beat the Youma. And predictably, it became a four-on-three battle as another one cloned itself. Then it became a four-on-four. Their advantage in numbers was lost.

"Maybe if we strike them all simultaneously, we could defeat them!" The one in blue, Sailor Mercury declared.

And so they choreographed their attacks with Sailor Moon counting down from three.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

"Mercury Aqua Mist!"

"Akuryou Taisen!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

The four sailor guardians unleashed their powers, striking all four of the monsters down. However, they quickly got up again and resumed attacking.

"Our timing must have been off!" Sailor Moon declared.

Yuuko spotted an opportunity and dived to the ground to snatch up her phone. She flipped the device open and activated it.

"Standby mode," the computerized female voice from the StormBraver announced.

Yuuko called out her transformation catchphrase while keying in the activation sequence on the phone. "Come rain and storm, brave's form!"

"Combination ready. Rain mode set up."

Both sailor guardians and Youmas looked at Yuuko in surprise. She took advantage of the distraction to manifest a magical wall of force that surrounded the Youmas like a large ring. She then caused the ring to shrink, forcing the four monsters together.

"Attack them again now!"

The four sailor guardians nodded and repeated their attack. As they unleashed their powers, Yuuko quickly collapsed the force field to let the attacks through. The four monsters were simultaneously struck and, because they were packed into such a tight group, all of them were hit by all four attacks. This was too much for the Youmas to handle and they disintegrated from the assault, leaving behind a few tiny scraps of white, blue and red cloth.

Thinking the battle had already been won, Sailor Moon casually walked up to Yuuko but before she could say anything, a man's voice rang out behind her. "Look out!"

In the blink of an eye, a man wearing a mask, a black hat and tuxedo appeared and deflected a thrown knife intended for Sailor Moon's throat with his wand. The knife fell harmlessly to the ground. Everyone quickly turned to look for the attacker, but they could only catch a glimpse of a shadow that quickly disappeared as fast as it appeared.

"You saved me again, Tuxedo Mask," Sailor Moon said to the man. She stared at him with such dreamy eyes that Yuuko couldn't help but make conclusions of her own. She didn't share her thoughts to the others, of course.

"Whoa! Tuxedo-san, that you?" Mariko suddenly exclaimed excitedly.

"Eh? You know Tuxedo Mask?" Asked Sailor Moon.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Tuxedo Mask said.

"Hmm, you do sound like him though," Yuuko said while stepping towards him to try and get a closer look. He averted his gaze and stepped away from her.

"I really don't know what you're talking about. But more importantly, that gem on your hand. Is that the Legendary Silver Crystal?"

"What, this?" Yuuko gestured at the red, teardrop-shaped gem on her right hand. "Does it look silver to you, genius? You're just trying to change the subject, aren't you?"

He alternated between staring at the gem and at Yuuko for a while. The four sailor guardians looked on with mixed feelings – awe, suspicion and curiosity. Finally, he turned around and simply walked away.

"Okay… he was certainly a weird one."

Yuuko then turned towards the sailor guardians. "Hey you, pigtails. Aren't you Usagi-san?"

"Who, me?" Sailor Moon nervously said. "Err, no… who's this Tsukino Usagi anyway?"

Yuuko's eyebrow twitched at such a bad attempt at denial. Sailor Moon nudged her elbow at Sailor Mercury. "Hey, help me out here, Ami-chan!"

And that's the moment when Yuuko and three sailor guardians facepalmed simultaneously.

* * *

A girl's voice could be heard saying, "What are you doing here?"

"It is rude to address yourself in that manner," was the reply.

"You're not me."

"But I am you. At least, another you from a different universe."

"You know why I'm here."

"Yes, I do."

"So do not interfere or I will have to deal with you."

"Tough words for someone who couldn't even save her most precious friend."

The girl did not reply. Those words struck close to her heart like a very bad memory or nightmare she wanted to forget.

"In any case, I've seen what I came to see. Goodbye."

Once the other party had gone, she continued to observe the scene at the train station from her hidden vantage point but Yuuko, Mariko and the sailor guardians had already left.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Yeah, it's a school world AU. I mean, with four _shittenou_, how can one resist not doing it as a school world (like how the Lucky Clover influenced Faiz's World of Decade)?

Also, the use of the term Guardian (instead of Senshi, Soldier, etc) was my own personal preference.

And one other thing: Roll calls are obviously genre convention. Realistically, no monster is going to wait while you announce yourself and say your catchphrase, but in this story genre conventions rule. Of course, Tuxedo Mask walking away without anyone following him is also a thing – at least for the live action series.


	3. The Drama and the Idol II

**Chapter 3: The Drama and the Idol (World of Sailor Moon Part 2)**

After the incident at the train station, the girls had decided to convene at a more appropriate place to discuss what had happened. So they all gathered at Usagi's house.

"Eeeh?!" Tsuchimoto Mariko squealed like a rabid fangirl. "So the four of you are Sailor Guardians who protect this world from creatures called Youma?"

"That is correct," confirms Mizuno Ami who is Sailor Mercury.

"More importantly, who are you?" Hino Rei asked Kinomoto Yuuko.

"Are you the Princess?" Tsukino Usagi butted in. She grabbed Yuuko's hand while eagerly awaiting her reply.

"Come now, Usagi," Kino Makoto said as she pulled Usagi back away from Yuuko. "Let's hear their side of the story first, okay?"

So Yuuko took a deep breath, then explained their situation to the four Sailor Guardians. She told them about what happened on her world and how they had travelled into this one. She had conveniently left out details about Akemi Homura as well as what had been said about the multiverse though. She thought that it would be best to withhold such sensitive, and likely irrelevant, information at the moment. Finally, she showed the four Sailor Guardians the two entries in the Navigation app of the StormBraver to see if they could help decipher the symbols and the foreign text.

"Ooh, you have a pretty phone just like mine!" Usagi took out her phone and placed it next to the StormBraver for comparison.

"Usagi! Be more serious about this, will ya?" Rei admonished.

Ami, being the one with the best grades in their class, studied the phone for a while before presenting her conclusions. "It seems that the first symbol represents the sun, and the second the moon. The moon probably means this world, for us Sailor Guardians are said to be warriors of the Moon Kingdom."

She paused to think about the sun symbol. "Instead of the sun, it could also mean the root or core, or center. Perhaps this is your home world. I do not understand the text though, but if I were to make a guess, it would be labels that name those worlds in some unknown language."

"Wow, you're so smart, Ami-chan," Usagi praised.

The rest of the night was spent recollecting past exploits, having pillow fights and generally fooling around with Usagi. When they finally realized how late it had become, Usagi suggested a sleepover. Yuuko and Mariko instantly agreed; it was definitely better than going to some unknown room that the world had assigned to them. The other Sailor Guardians were a bit skeptical about cramming six girls into one small room, but Usagi somehow managed to persuade them all to agree to it.

* * *

The next morning, the six of them got up early and reached school without incident. The school festival was two weeks away, so many clubs have already begun preparing for it.

As they passed by the auditorium building, a song caught Yuuko, Mariko and Usagi's attention. Apparently a band of some sort is using the building for practice session, most likely to prepare for the upcoming school festival.

"That's Aino Minako," Makoto explained. "She's our School Idol and also the sole member of the School Idol Club."

"So she's also going to be in trouble like your Drama Club for having not enough members?" Yuuko asked.

"Apparently not," Makoto replied. "She's really popular and has won national tournaments, so I guess she somehow manages to get away with it."

"Is she also a Sailor Guardian as well?" Mariko turns and asks.

"Huh?" Rei's eyes narrowed for a brief moment before she turned and looked quizzically at Mariko. "What makes you think so?"

"Well, isn't she singing about Sailor V?"

"That seems quite coincidental indeed," Yuuko interjected. "What would the V mean? Venus, perhaps?"

"_C'est la vie_," Usagi corrects them. "It's a French thing. Minako-chan is so awesome to use foreign words like that."

"You don't even know what it means, do you?" Yuuko taunts.

"Err… it means… err…" Usagi makes a wide grin, and then tries to distract Yuuko. "Look, she's starting her next song. Isn't Minako-chan simply awesome?"

* * *

During the lunch break, Makoto decides to bring up the topic about the drama club with Yuuko and Mariko again while the others went to the cafeteria to get food.

This time though, Yuuko agreed on the spot. "I guess I should help you guys out, us being Magical Girls and all that. Right, Mariko-chan?"

"Oh, yes… sure, I'll help too," Mariko nods in agreement.

"I certainly wouldn't want you guys to end up in trouble with the student council," Yuuko notes. "But on that topic, isn't it suspicious that they have so much power and can even make students disappear?"

"Well, we have our suspicions," Ami surmises, "but there's no evidence and all the members of the student council have alibis."

"The only possible explanation is if they are using Youma," says Rei. "But how would they control them? The Youma that we've encountered do not seem to discriminate and attack everyone on sight."

"And another thing," Yuuko ponders. "What was that about approaching the school at midnight?"

"About that…" Makoto had thought about explaining it, but was interrupted by the arrival of Usagi, Ami and Rei.

"We got buns and sandwiches!" Usagi waved enthusiastically.

When Usagi later learnt that Yuuko and Mariko had decided to join the Drama Club, she was ecstatic and offered to treat everyone to snacks later after school.

* * *

After school, the girls all met up at a local ice cream parlour to continue their discussion on various matters. The first thing that Usagi quickly brought up was about the Drama Club. Yuuko and Mariko both learnt that their plan was to conduct a play based on a traditional Japanese folktale known as The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. They discussed roles, preparations and schedules, but one very important thing was missing – who would play the lead role of Princess Kaguya. Everyone agreed that it had to be a popular person in order for the play to succeed and attract an audience, but none of them fit that bill.

Yuuko then reminded Makoto that there was one other important thing to talk about.

Makoto hesitated at first, then let out a sigh. "I… don't really know how to explain. It would be better if we just left it at that, but you're quite pushy about this, aren't you?"

Yuuko simply nodded.

"I guess there's no avoiding it then." Makoto threw a glance at Rei.

Rei nodded and started explaining. "There is a dark presence at the school. I can sense it, and it is even stronger at midnight. We've tried exploring the school grounds several times, but we didn't find anything. Yet, I could sense something, and it scared me. Like something so terribly evil observing you, and you know it can see you, but you can't see it."

"I see… like a stalker or pervert then!" Mariko concluded from Rei's explanation.

Yuuko smiled. "Err… something like that, but a thousand times worse."

The girls continued to chat on other irrelevant things for a while. Usagi then suggested they go for a karaoke session; hearing Aino Minako in the morning had her in a fired up mood. Having nothing better to do, Yuuko and Mariko agreed.

* * *

A few hours later Usagi, Ami, Makoto and Mariko were happy singing "_C'est la vie_" together all the way out of the karaoke bar with Yuuko and Rei following closely behind.

"What a lively bunch. You don't like karaoke, Rei-san?"

"Not really. Besides, there's enough Minako fans in the group as it is."

Usagi turns around and eyes Rei. "So where do we go next?"

"It's late. We should all go home."

"Let's have another sleepover and sing Aino Minako songs all night!"

"I don't mind," Yuuko lazily said while raising her hand. "The sleepover thing, not the singing part." Then she realized that not everyone was listening to her.

Rei looked tense; her eyes darted left and right, as if searching for the source of her unease. Mariko appeared to feel the same way, and she nervously inched herself towards Yuuko.

"What's wrong, Mariko? You getting that danger feeling again?"

"Mmmh," Mariko grunted in response.

By now the others have also started to notice their comrades' unease. They fanned out to protect those in the middle while carefully observing the surroundings for any hint of danger. Yuuko had one hand around the StormBraver while the other clenched Mariko's hand tightly.

Rei was the first to notice the enemy. Materializing right out of the ground, half a dozen strange, cloaked figures in masks emerged and shambled towards the girls. Then Mariko noticed another group. Makoto noticed a third group. Soon, they were surrounded by a horde of the strange, black-cloaked beings.

"What are they, Rei?" Makoto asked. "I've never seen these before."

"I don't know, but they're definitely Youma."

"But why so many?" Ami pondered.

"There'll be time for thinking later," Rei said. "For now, let's defeat them."

The four Sailor Guardians quickly transformed and proceeded to engage the enemy. Yuuko also activated her StormBraver and transformed into her basic rain mode and moved forward to engage, but Rei quickly stopped her. "Yuuko, stay with Mariko and protect her."

Yuuko nodded, then retreated to watch the battle unfold together with Mariko.

These Youma appeared to be much weaker than the ones the Sailor Guardians used to fight, but they made up for that weakness in numbers. For each Youma that a Sailor Guardian brought down, two more shambled to take its place.

"Moon Twilight Flash!" Usagi struck down three Youma using her power of the moon. The defeated creatures fell and then disintegrated, leaving not a single trace of their existence behind. The rest of the Sailor Guardians followed Usagi's lead and activated their powers, striking down even more enemies.

But despite taking out several dozen opponents, there seemed to be no end to these creatures. Even Yuuko and Mariko, who have been observing the battle, couldn't tell where all the reinforcements came from. It is as if they just appeared out of thin air.

Realizing the stale mate, Rei commanded everyone to make a tactical withdrawal. "We're too open!" she declared. "We need to retreat to a more advantageous position!"

"This way!" Makoto beckoned the group to follow her, and they quickly followed her lead with the mob of Youma in pursuit. But it seemed like wherever they went, some Youma appeared out of a dark alley or some other hidden corner to ambush the girls, and always presenting only one way out. The girls hastily fought and retreated, but there still seemed to be no end to the Youma horde.

Soon they found themselves fighting in front of their school, their backs against the iron bars that make up the school gate entrance. The Youma horde seemed to have thinned out a little, giving the girls a little bit of hope as they pressed forward to attack. Staying beside Mariko, Yuuko also contributed to the battle by cleverly positioning force fields to protect the Sailor Guardians from flanking attacks as well as to manipulate the enemy into open positions for attack.

The battle seemed to go well this time, and after a long and arduous fight, they have finally defeated the last of the shambling horde.

"That was… very… strange…" Ami said while catching her breath. "It's as if they wanted us to… come… here…" her voice trailed as she looked around and became aware of their location.

"We need to get away from this place." Mariko's voice was shaking as she spoke. "There's something very wrong here."

"I sense it too," Rei said in agreement.

"Then let's move!" Makoto turned around to lead the group away, but stopped when she noticed the black-cloaked Youma again. Groups of them appeared on both sides of the street, cutting off their escape route. They didn't seem to be advancing towards the girls though. "It seems like they really don't want us to leave."

As if things weren't bad enough, they felt another presence approaching from the school grounds itself. Resembling a heavily-armoured humanoid, this creature had a large sword in its hands. With surprising agility, it leapt over the school gate and headed straight towards Usagi, sword raised to strike.

Yuuko quickly reacted and placed a force field in front of Usagi. The Youma's sword came down onto the force field with a loud crash, the force of impact causing the barrier to falter as Yuuko mentally strained herself to maintain the magical wall of force.

The Youma struck again, this time completely cleaving through and shattering the barrier, only to strike at thin air. As if out of nowhere, Tuxedo Mask had appeared again and pulled Usagi out of harm's way.

"You saved me again…."

"No time for pleasantries… look out!"

The Youma kept coming at Usagi and Tuxedo Mask. The two of them hastily retreated. Yuuko tried to erect another force field to halt its advance, but it was too quick and it effortlessly shattered the half-formed magical barrier like glass.

"Youma Taisen!" Rei engulfed the armoured construct with magical fire, but it shrugged off the attack and pressed forward.

"Supreme Thunder!" Makoto hit the thing with a bolt of lightning.

"Mercury Aqua Mist!" A stream of magical water struck the creature. But none of their attacks seem to faze it as it pressed forward.

Usagi and Tuxedo Mask were separated from each other as they both dodged aside, barely avoiding the creature's overhead chop. It then lashed out with a horizontal swing, forcing the two further apart from one another. It then turned to focus its attention on Usagi, swinging its sword in deadly arcs as she desperately avoided the sharp blade.

Calling upon all her inner strength that she could muster, Yuuko once again manifested a set of force fields, but this time as a cage to hold the Youma. Within this small enclosure, its sword movement was restricted so it resorted to punching the magical prison with its fists. Even without using the sword, Yuuko could sense the tremendous force of its blows on her magic.

"Quickly, try attacking it together like before!" Yuuko strained to keep her magical barriers up as the creature continued assaulting them.

"We just hit it with all we've got. I don't think that'll work again," Rei said.

"But we've got to try!" Usagi tried to encourage the others.

"Hurry!" Yuuko struggled as each pounding fist caused her tremendous mental stress. "I can't hold it up much longer!"

The Sailor Guardians nodded to each other and commenced their attack.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

"Mercury Aqua Mist!"

"Youma Taisen!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

And then an unexpected fifth attack was contributed. "Venus Love Me Chain!"

Yuuko quickly dropped her force fields as all five attacks simultaneously struck. Overwhelmed by the magical assault, the Youma was felled and it disintegrated similar to the others, but this one shed tiny scraps of cloth like the one from the previous night.

Everyone turned, surprised, towards the Sailor Guardian in orange.

"Sailor… Venus?" they all asked, almost in unison. Tuxedo Mask showed a hint of recognition as he observed the situation unfold beside Usagi.

Before she could answer, however, Mariko screamed as a pair of strong hands grabbed her from behind. With a powerful leap, her captor went over the school gates and into the school compound, carrying Mariko with him.

"You've finally shown yourself, Princess!" Mariko's captor said while dragging her further into the school grounds. His face was still hidden in the shadows, but his silhouette looked familiar; a highly observant person would also notice similarities with the one who tried to kill Sailor Moon the night before.

"You let her go!" Yuuko screamed, her fists clenched in anger.

"Then why don't you come in after me?" The man continued making his way further in with supernatural ease, despite having to deal with a struggling Mariko.

"Yuuko! Help!" Mariko cried out, helplessly, as she was dragged into the assembly hall building.

Yuuko did the only thing she would possibly think in such a situation. Without waiting to see how the other Sailor Guardians would respond, she leapt over the gates in pursuit.

* * *

**Author's Note**: So I had pretty much given up on the idea of following Decade's two-episodes(chapters)-per-world format by now; I might try to maintain some internal consistency and make an average of four chapters per world to keep a fast pacing and avoid meandering.

Also, readers may note that I am heavily basing this AU on the live action characters. That's intentional, for I had wanted to keep the general power level of the characters low this early into the story.


	4. The Princess and the Dark Kingdom III

**Chapter 4: The Princess and the Dark Kingdom (World of Sailor Moon Part 3)**

"Yuuko-chan!" Tsukino Usagi started to give chase, but was held back by Tuxedo Mask.

"Sailor Moon, stop! It's a trap."

"But Yuuko-chan and Mariko-chan are…"

"Tuxedo Mask is correct," Sailor Venus interrupts. "This is just a ploy to lure us out in the open."

"Although I agree with Venus, but we still have to do something. Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to be laying low?" Hino Rei gave Venus a stern look.

"In any case, we need to quickly decide about going after Yuuko and Mariko." Kino Makoto looked at the school with a feeling of fear and concern.

* * *

"Stop struggling. It is futile."

Tsuchimoto Mariko was brought into a large, cavernous area which she didn't recognize. It was quite obvious that this wasn't anywhere in school, but she had no idea how she got here. One minute they were in the school auditorium, and the next minute they were in some sort of cave that led to this place. She noticed four other people here when her captor started addressing them.

"Everything is proceeding according to plan. They will come after her, and we will be waiting for them."

"Good work, Jadeite," said one of the four. A female.

"Thank you, my queen."

Mariko found herself being shoved to the ground. She looked up to get a better view of her surroundings and her captors. The cavern was illuminated by a formation of glowing crystals at one end. Her captors had their backs against the light source, so she had to squint to get a good look at them. She still couldn't tell who they were or what they looked like, but knowing one of them was named Jadeite, she guessed it was most likely the four student council members and their president.

"Who are you people?" Mariko's voice quivered when she spoke. "What do you want?"

"Silence!" One of the four men spoke with an admonishing tone. "Do not dare to speak in the presence of president Beryl-sama!"

* * *

"Mariko! Mariko!"

Kinomoto Yuuko called out over and over, but was met with her own echoes. The school auditorium was dark and quiet. She quickly leapt from corner to corner, leaving not a single area of the auditorium unturned, but there was no sign of Mariko nor her assailant. She continued to look around, perplexed.

Soon she found herself wandering up onto the stage. A she approached the middle, the StormBraver buzzed and vibrated, as if it received a new notification. She flipped it open and saw a message in a popup that gave her a glimmer of hope:

"New Location."

She desperately navigated to the app's location listing and noticed a new icon appearing as a subgroup underneath the Moon location. A black moon. Without hesitating, she activated it and disappeared from the auditorium.

* * *

"Are you sure the princess will come?" One of the four men tapped his foot impatiently, while the one called Jadeite shifted about uncomfortably.

"We have their friend. Of course the Sailor Guardians and their princess will come for her, Kunzite."

"So this is just a trap and I'm the bait." Mariko glared at her captors. For her impertinence, she was rewarded with a kick to the shoulder. She gritted her teeth and refrained from crying out in pain. "Yuuko's going to thoroughly kick your asses for this."

"Such disrespect! Such defiance!" A third man raised his leg to stamp down on Mariko's face. She closed her eyes tightly and waited for the punishment to come.

"Calm yourself, Nephrite," the fourth man interjected. "Save your fury for when the Sailor Guardians arrive."

"Do not tell me what to do, Zoisite!" Nephrite scoffed. "I do not take orders from you!"

"Be quiet, all of you!" Their queen gestured towards the opposite end of the cavern, and all four men turned to look. "Someone is coming."

Mariko heard footsteps. Someone was indeed running. Then the footsteps stopped, and they all saw a lone figure standing before them.

"Mariko!"

"Yuuko…?" Mariko strained herself to sit up, the pain in her shoulder still putting her at a disadvantage. "Be careful, it's a trap!" she added.

"You're all gonna pay for taking Mariko!" Yuuko glared at Mariko's captors.

"Do not be foolish, girl. You are but a pest to us." Kunzite scoffed and drew his sword. "Where are the Sailor Guardians? Where is the princess?"

"If you want the princess, you're gonna have to get through me first." Yuuko immediately regretted saying that, but she couldn't just take back what she said, so she flipped open the StormBraver.

"Standby mode."

"Come rain and storm, brave's form!"

"Combination ready. Rain mode set up."

"_Shitennou_, deal with her. I have no time to bother with pests," the queen ordered, displeased by the lack of Sailor Guardians.

Jadeite was the first to make his move, blasting the area with a freezing cone of ice. Yuuko hastily erected a barrier that protected her from the main blast. Kunzite quickly dashed forward and leapt over the force field, long sword poised to strike. Yuuko quickly sidestepped Kunzite's attack, then created another barrier to push Kunzite into the nearby wall.

Nephrite and Zoisite joined the fight soon after, and the odds were severely stacked against Yuuko. Still, she fought with all her might and determination, fuelled by a single thought – to rescue her friend from the enemy's clutches. Furthermore, her force fields were no trifling matter, as long as she maintained her focus and concentration she could be practically untouchable.

Of course, in a four-on-one battle of attrition, the side with more numbers and who can endure longer would have the advantage. All they needed to do was to bide their time, don't make any mistakes and look for an opening; and this is the strategy that the _shitennou_ took. One false move and a blast of energy later, and Yuuko was slammed into the cave wall, her force fields dissipating from her lapse in concentration as pain and fatigue took over

"It's over for you," the queen of the _Shitennou_ retorted as Yuuko struggled to stand. "You are in no condition to challenge us."

"That may be so… but I still have to keep trying. If I give up now, I'll never forgive myself for abandoning Mariko-chan."

"That's right, and we'll support you all the way!" Everyone looked to the source of the voice in surprise. Standing behind Yuuko were five Sailor Guardians and the masked gentleman, Tuxedo Mask. Sailor Moon leaned over towards Yuuko and helped her up. "Sorry we're late."

"You're finally here… Princess."

The queen's address to the Sailor Guardians wasn't targeted specifically at any one of them, yet the one in orange dress stepped forward to respond. "Your evil reign ends here, Queen Beryl."

"Silence! You will surrender the Legendary Silver Crystal to me and beg for mercy once I am through with you!" Queen Beryl then turned her attention to Zoisite and gave him the command, "Zoisite! Unleash the Youma!"

The ground shook a little as the sound of machinery – gears, cogs and chains – began permeating through the darkness. Lit by the distant crystal light source behind Queen Beryl, they could soon see scores of cages being hoisted into view. Students, all in bad shape from long term captivity, could be seen within.

"This is horrible!" Usagi was shocked at the sight before her.

"So that's where all the missing students have gone!" Ami realized, recognizing some of the faces.

"What's the meaning of this?" Makoto demanded.

"Poor, poor Sailor Guardians," the queen mocked. "Fighting and defeating Youma all this time, without realizing that they have been killing their own fellow students."

"What?" Everyone was in shock from hearing that.

"I see. It's those sailor uniforms, isn't it? That's why there were always bits of tattered cloth left behind whenever a Youma is destroyed," Yuuko surmised.

"Splendid, isn't it?" Kunzite said, seemingly rather pleased with himself. "The creation of the sailor uniforms by embedding a Youma fiber into the fabric is my greatest design, all for Queen Beryl-sama."

"Kunzite! You… you…" Rei seemed hesitant in deciding what sort of derogatory noun to label him, then settled with a rather crude response. "You monster!"

"Enough talk. Let's see if you can fight now that you know what the Youma really are!" With that, Kunzite and his fellow _shitennou_ raised their hands and poured all their dark energies into triggering the dormant Youma fibers in the students' uniforms. The students started screaming as their clothes began to awaken and seemed to devour their very souls.

Yuuko and the Sailor Guardians looked to each other, hoping someone might have an answer to this, but it was all just confusing and hopeful stares.

* * *

Mariko was in pain. Not just the pain from the physical abuse that she had received earlier, but also from the mental torment of witnessing everything that had transpired up until now. How Yuuko was trying so hard to rescue her useless self but in vain, and how the Sailor Guardians were now in a terrible pinch with the reveal of the captive students and their relation to the Youma.

She covered both her ears as the terrible screams of the student overwhelmed every other sound in the room. She squinted, trying to see how Yuuko or the Sailor Guardians would react, but they were also in a state of confusion and disarray. She then turned her attention to the four _shitennou_. They were in deep concentration, pouring all of their dark energies into their terrible machination.

Finally, she looked at the silhouette of Queen Beryl, who was watching over the _shitennou_ to ensure that the Sailor Guardians did not interfere. Her eyes widened in realization that the queen had an index finger pointed at her friends. They were too engrossed with the madness to notice the dark energies accumulating at the tip of the queen's outstretched finger. Soon it will be launched at the unsuspecting targets, and Mariko could not bear to imagine what that would feel like.

Her decision was prompt. She scrambled to her feet and lurched forward, lunging towards Queen Beryl without any hesitation whatsoever. She caught hold of the queen's outstretched hands and tried to push it away with all her might, just as the queen let the collected dark energies loose. Mariko briefly experienced a searing pain before everything turned black.

* * *

"Mariko!" Yuuko cried out; the rest of the Sailor Guardians also snapped out of their state of confusion.

Shock turned into anger. Everyone directed their furious gazes toward Queen Beryl, whom from their point of view had just fired a blast of dark energies at their friend. Mariko lay, unmoving, at the queen's feet.

"I've had enough!" Yuuko screamed, seething with anger.

"What are you going to do about it, yell at us until our ears fall off?" Beryl mocked.

"You trample on people's lives like it is nothing. You obsess with your dark schemes like some cardboard cutout evil overlord. Do not even think for a moment that your schemes will come to fruition, that no one will stop you. Because _we_ are here now, and we _will_ stop you!"

The queen chuckled. "Talk without action. That is all that you are, weak and powerless."

"Weak? I have friends. And you have a friend of mine whom I hold dear. Because of that, I musn't - _will_ not lose to the likes of you! And that makes me strong! And together," Mariko takes a moment to glance at the rest of the Sailor Guardians, as if to get their approval. Usagi smiles and nods back at her. "-together, we can be infinitely stronger than what we are individually!"

Usagi ran up to Yuuko placed her hand on Yuuko's shoulder. "That was a good speech, Yuuko. Now it's my turn."

Yuuko smiled back at Usagi, then regrouped with the rest of the Sailor Guardians while Usagi, as Sailor Moon, drew the Crescent Wand and raised it high above her head.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

The Crescent Wand emits a dazzling light that filled the entire cavern with its brilliance. Queen Beryl and her four _shitennou_ were forced to shield their eyes as the magical light of healing reached every living being within the cavern.

The screams of the students are placated. Yuuko's pain and fatigue begin to fade away. Yuuko feels the familiar buzz coming from the StormBraver. A smile began to form on her face.

* * *

Mariko felt herself falling. All around her, darkness. She felt like she didn't have a single care in the world anymore. All she needed was to feel at peace, and continue falling.

"Mariko."

She opened her eyes. Someone was calling her name. She saw beautiful lady, very regal in appearance, like a princess. She was dressed in very beautiful, flowing white robes. Her long, yellow hair flapped in the air gracefully as the girl descended towards Mariko, and stretched out a hand to her. Mariko responded by reaching out. The moment their hands touched, Mariko experienced a very familiar vision. The very same one she had the first time she shook hands with Tsukino Usagi. Then she gazed upon this beautiful princess who was pulling her out of the darkness, and she realized who the princess was.

Mariko's eyes jolted open. She was bathed in the magical glow of Moon Healing Escalation, her pain and fatigue fading away as she sat up and took stock of the situation. Sailor Moon's power was keeping Queen Beryl and her _shitennou_ at bay, while the students hanging in their cages were at peace, no longer screaming and no longer changing into Youma.

Soon, Sailor Moon's magic faded and she collapsed to the ground, exhausted from her efforts. Tuxedo Mask darted forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Damn you, Sailor Moon!" Kunzite was furious, and so was his queen and the rest of the _shitennou_. All their efforts, negated by what they are assuming to be the power from a simple Sailor Guardian. They didn't have to wait for their queen's command; drawing their weapons, they charged angrily at Yuuko and the Sailor Guardians.

As the battle was joined, Queen Beryl set her gaze upon the now standing Mariko. "You! How dare you! For your insolence, you will die!"

Mariko stood her ground. She had never felt more confident. After her dream-like meeting with the princess, for which she fully remembered, she recalled one last thing that lay hidden at the back of her mind since the beginning of her adventures.

"Core power, make up!"

The queen was forced to shield her eyes from the magical transformation that occurred before her. In Mariko's place was a new Sailor Guardian, dressed in an aqua skirt with crimson ribbon.

"Guardian of Order and Truth, Sailor Core!"

Even the Sailor Guardians and the _shitennou_, in the middle of their heated battle, stared in awe.

The queen was not so impressed. "Begone!" she screamed, and pointed her index finger at the new Sailor Guardian. As the dark bolt flew from the tip of her finger, Mariko ducked underneath and rushed up to the queen, placing an open palm firmly across the queen's abdomen. In a flash of light, the queen was sent flying backwards, slamming into the cavern walls with a satisfying crunch.

Yuuko smiled, and then cheerfully called out to her best friend. "Mariko, nice show, but you aren't going to upstage me!"

The StormBraver was activated once again. "Combination ready. Lightning mode set up."

Yuuko's was again surrounded by the familiar energy hoops, dancing around her and reconfiguring her outfit. When it was complete, she was now dressed in a more athletic yellow and white dress, with crimson red ribbons, overalls and gloves.

"Damn you, outsider!" Kunzite launched himself at Yuuko, his sword poised to kill. Yuuko conjured a force field directly above Kunzite's speeding silhouette, and cast down a bolt of lightning from that wall of force that slammed the _shitennou_ to the ground. She didn't stop there; another force field materialized from the ground beneath him, launching him into the air. Sparks of lightning began to arc around Yuuko's outstretched hands, and then she blasted Kunzite away with a beam of lightning-charged energy.

The remaining three _shitennou_ did not fare well against the combined might of the Sailor Guardians. Full of confidence and strengthened by magic, they quickly countered their opponents' attacks and returned the favour.

"Mercury Aqua Mist!"

"Youma Taisen!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Venus Love Me Chain!"

The remaining _shitennou_ were blasted towards the back wall of the cavern, to rejoin Kunzite and their queen.

"Damn you all!" Queen Beryl cursed, before casting a spell that teleported her and her _shitennou_ out of the cavern.

* * *

The next few weeks flew by quickly for Yuuko and Mariko, and their newfound friends. Their Drama Club play was a success, and Sailor Venus even revealed herself to them as the one and only Aino Minako of the School Idol club! There were also rumours among them that Usagi was dating Tuxedo Mask, much to the chagrin of Minako but the others were more or less supportive as long as she could still fulfil her duties as a Sailor Guardian.

Queen Beryl and her four _shitennou_ were nowhere to be seen, but it was a certainly that they would eventually show up in some way or another again. Still, the Sailor Guardians would continue to stay on the alert and be ready for whenever evil reveals itself.

They were all aware that a new location had opened up on the StormBraver, and they day soon came where they would all need to say goodbye to one another. Mariko thanked the Sailor Guardians for the time spent in this world, while Mariko personally went up to Usagi to give her thanks. She then turned to approach Minako.

"When are you going to reveal the Princess to them?" Mariko asked.

"In time, Mariko-san. In time," was Minako's reply.

And once all the farewells, hugs and promises have been made, Yuuko and Mariko waved one last time before activating the new location.

* * *

"Ow!"

"Do we have to do this each time we travel?" Mariko complained as she picked herself up, and then helped Yuuko up. This time they had landed right in the middle of the busy city intersection, catching a few glances from passers-by. However, their curiosity was only temporary, because the crowd was currently fixated to a large screen atop one of the nearby buildings. Some kind of tournament seemed to be going on, and the crowd cheered as two young girls appeared to be flying around a body of water, attempting to fire beams of energy at each other.

Soon, the twin-tailed girl in yellow hair managed to trap her opponent, a brown-haired girl in a white dress. The crowd gasped as the twin-tailed girl began unleashing a torrent of magical projectiles at her opponent. Just when the assault was thought to be over, the twin-tailed girl suddenly found herself trapped by the same type of magical binds that she had used.

The camera then panned to the girl in white. She looked bruised and tattered, but full of will and determination. She held up a staff with a red, round stone and directed it at the twin-tailed girl. And then she unleashed a ridiculously huge beam at her opponent, completely overwhelming her. As her opponent fell, the announcer declared the winner of this friendly match from the Nanodome – Takamachi Nanoha of Mid-Childa Academy!

"What an odd world we're in," Mariko decided. "Magical battles being held for sport."

"Umm… I think I know what our roles are in this world," Yuuko declared. She gestured towards the screen. It was currently showing Nanoha and the rest of her team mates being interviewed by a news reporter, and Nanoha declaring that her team is very much looking forward to the upcoming National-level competition.

Mariko then realized what Yuuko was trying to say – they were both wearing the same uniforms as Nanoha and her team.

* * *

**Author's Note**: So, Sailor Core. I was looking for something representing the base, the foundation or the core. Something like Sailor Earth or Sailor Gaia. But a search on the Internet quickly eliminated those two choices. Core seemed like a decent compromise, and also fits what Mariko represents better.

Also, next world: Beyond Nanodome! (cue the groans and deadpan looks from readers)


End file.
